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Organized by USP, American Botanical Council, and Food Protection and Defense Institute

For as long as there has been commerce, there have been examples of economically motivated adulteration (EMA) and fraud. In Ancient Greece precious olive oil was cut with poorer quality oil; when the popularity and price of spices soared in the Middle Ages, some merchants mixed ground seeds with stone dust; and in the 18th century milk was often diluted with water and a little plaster for more convincing color.

Today, similar adulteration trends continue, with some modern twists. Recent examples of food fraud include substitution of horse meat for ground beef, mislabeling of fish species, cumin tainted with ground peanuts and milk powder adulterated with melamine to increase its apparent protein content.

Although the vast majority of food fraud incidents do not pose a health risk, incidences like the melamine-tainted milk powder, peanut butter contaminated with salmonella and allergen-laden spices endangered and caused harm to public health.

This is why the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) emphasizes preventive controls and supplier verification and requires manufacturers and food facilities to factor the possibility of EMA in their supply chain into their hazard analyses.

New Tools for Identification and Mitigation

During the workshop, USP will present several new and innovative tools and resources specifically designed to help retailers, manufacturers and regulators identify and mitigate the risks associated with EMA and fraud. These tools may be especially relevant to companies seeking to comply with new FSMA regulations. Prominent international experts will discuss the current state of the industry and the steps necessary to help protect manufacturers and consumers from the risks of adulterated food and dietary supplements as well as GMP requirements.

Participants will discuss the progress and further developments of the Food Fraud Database, USP’s Food Fraud Mitigation Tool (published September 2015 in the Third Supplement to FCC 9) as well as predicting EMA activities by using big data and learning about progress on food fraud initiatives in other parts of the world—notably in Europe and China.

Learn How You Can Participate

USP, ABC and the FPDI encourage manufacturers, retailers and regulators eager to explore ways to mitigate and prevent adulteration to attend. To register, review the preliminary agenda or see more information, please visit the event webpage.

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